The Spooks battle

"Who else but the Mouldheels?" the girl replied."Think she's a traitorous little witch. They'll make her suffer for sure!"'"I'll go and get my staff," I told her."There's no time for that. No time to waste. She's in serious trouble."Wait here," I told her firmly. "I'll be back in a few minutes."That said, I ran across to the house, collected my staff, then sprinted back to where the girl was waiting and climbed over the wall to join her. I glanced at her feet just in case she was wearing pointy shoes, but to my surprise her feet were bare. She saw me staring down at them and smiled. When she smiled, she looked really pretty."Don't need shoes in summer," she said. "Like to feel the warm grass under my feet and the cool breeze against my ankles. Anyway, they call me Mab -that's my name if you need it."She turned and set off at a fast pace, heading toward Pendle Hill. There was still some light in the sky to the west, but very soon it would be completely dark. I didn't know the area, and it would probably have been a good idea to bring a lantern. But my eyes work better in the dark than most people's, and after about ten minutes or so the waning moon came up from behind a bank of trees and cast a pale light over everything."How much farther?" I asked."Ten minutes at the most," Mab answered."You said that when we set off!" I protested."Did I? Must have been wrong then.

Sometimes I get confused. When I'm walking, I go off into my own little world. Time just flies by."We were climbing onto the edge of the moor that skirted the north of Pendle Hill. It was at least another thirty minutes before we reached our destination-a small rounded knoll covered with trees and thick bushes on the edge of a wood. The great dark bulk of Pendle loomed up behind it."Up there in the trees," she said, "that's where we'll wait for Alice."I looked up into the darkness beneath the trees and felt91uneasy. What if I were walking into some sort of trap? The girl seemed to know about spells. She might have used Alice's name to lure me here."Where is Alice now?" I asked suspiciously."Got her in a forester's cottage just back there in the trees. Too dangerous for you to go closer at the moment. It's best if we wait up here until the time's right for you to see her."I wasn't happy with what Mab had suggested. Despite the danger, I wanted to see Alice straightaway, but I decided to bide my time."You lead the way," I told her, gripping my rowan staff tightly.Mab gave a little smile and moved up into the cover of the trees. I followed cautiously, climbing up a twisting path through bushes and tangled brambles, alert for danger, my staff at the ready.

I started to glimpse lights ahead and felt even more uneasy. Was there someone else waiting above?At the very top of the hill there was a clearing with a number of tree stumps forming a rough oval. It looked as if the trees had been felled for the purpose of providing seats, and to my surprise, two girls were already seated waiting for us, each with a lantern at her feet. Neither one was Alice. Both appeared to be slightly younger. They stared toward me with wide, unblinking eyes."These are my younger sisters," Mab said. "The one on the left is Je

I had to agree: They looked identical. Their hair was the same color and length as Mab's, but there the resemblance to their older sister ended. Both were very thin, with sharp, pinched faces and piercing eyes. Their mouths were hard, horizontal slits in their faces, and their narrow noses were slightly hooked. They wore thin, threadbare dresses like Mab and their feet were also bare.I gripped my staff harder. Mab's two sisters were still staring at me intently, but there was absolutely no expression on their faces; no way to tell whether they were hostile or friendly."Sit yourself down, Tom, and take the weight off your feet," Mab said, pointing to one of the tree stumps opposite her sisters. "It might be some while before we can go to Alice."Warily I did so. Mab sat down on the stump to my left. Nobody spoke, and an odd silence seemed to settle over everything. To fill in the time, I counted the stumps. There were thirteen, and it suddenly struck me that this could be a meeting place for a coven of-witches.No sooner had that disturbing thought entered my head than a bat swooped down into the clearing before flitting away through the branches to my left. Next a big moth appeared from nowhere and, rather than flying toward one of the lanterns, began to circle Je

Suddenly, to my astonishment, her mouth opened wide and her tongue flicked out, caught the moth, and drew it in. Then, for the first time, her face became animated. She gave a broad smile, her mouth curving from ear to ear. Then she chewed quickly and swallowed down the moth with a big gulp."Was that good?" her sister Beth inquired, peering sideways at her.Je

A few moments later the twins climbed back up the path. When they sat down opposite me again, I didn't know whether to laugh at the state of them or feel really sorry for the pain and discomfort they must be going through. Their threadbare dresses were torn -Je

"I don't know the rules," I said. It was true. I'd never heard of the game. It sounded like a game that girls would play, and I hadn't had any sisters. I didn't know much about girls' games."It's easy," said Mab from my left. "You just choose one of the four. Choose truth and you have to answer a question truthfully. Choose dare and you're set a task. Pick kiss and you have to kiss who or what you're told to -there's no getting away from it. Promise is hardest of all. Have to make one, and bound by it, you are -maybe bound forever!"No! I don't want to play," I repeated."Don't be silly. Don't have any choice, do you? Can't leave this spot until we say so. You're rooted to it -hadn't you noticed?"I'd been growing more and more a